Fourth Region Tournament Preview

Pick and Roll has been working for some time to get an endorsement from Mr. Kurtis Blow. I finally got a statement from him through his "Basketball" video on YouTube. Pick and Roll himself makes a cameo at the 2:53 mark in the video. If Kurtis doesn't get Pick and Roll readers ready for regional tournament action, maybe Cheech and Chong and Tyrone Shoelaces' "Basketball Jones" will get them going. I'd include a link to the original animation, but I try to keep everything PG on here. I'll let readers search out the original if they are so motivated.

When I was at WKU, my friends and I listened to these two songs before we trek up The Hill to Diddle Arena to take on a Sun Belt foe back when the conference was a good basketball conference.

If Tyrone Shoelaces and Kurtis Blow don't get folks in the mood for some regional tournament action, then maybe Chocolate Thunder will get you rolling. Just think for a minute what Darryl Dawkins meant to backboards. We had to start importing them from the planet "Lovetron" and had to learn "interplanetary funkmanship." "Slam, bam, I am jam," Dawkins.

I'm just trying to get everyone going for the post season, so that people might turn-off reality television and drive to the nearest regional tournament and take a good dose of hoops. A Basketball Jones is not too unhealthy, and if you decide on a twelve step program to get rid of it, just be sure to dribble for the first ten and a half steps.

Around this time of year my family's "Hoosiers" DVD gets a lot of play. It's a wonder the pixels don't fade away by April. Two of my favorite scenes are Coach Norman Dale's speeches before the regional final and before the state championship. Click the links and watch for yourself. I know Kentuckians who won't watch it because of the name of the movie, but that's just nutty. I would like to see someone make a movie about the 1948 Brewers team or the 1956 Carr Creek team. Carr Creek would have a couple of great background stories. First of all, their team made it to the state championship game in 1928 after starting the season playing on a dirt court. Then, in the 1950s, people had started to leave the Kentucky mountains for jobs in northern cities in a migration not unlike the "Okies" heading west during the Great Depression.

So, at this point, readers are wondering, "is Pick and Roll ever going to preview the Fourth Region Tournament?" Yeah, I could've launched into some dry review of each team in the tournament, but I'll leave that for the print media. If anyone doesn't like my tournament preview, then I will refund your subscription money.

Franklin-Simpson Wildcat Coach David Clark must be thinking, "Man! My team is 24-6 with 20 wins in the region and a district championship, and we have to face Greenwood in the first round?" It's a tough draw for the Wildcats because Greenwood with their experienced guards was the hottest team coming down the stretch, but Franklin-Simpson was steady for the entire season. I told someone a few weeks ago that I thought Greenwood and Franklin-Simpson would meet in the regional championship. That's not going to happen, and I'm going to backpedal and say that the championship will be decided in the first round.

I do know that nothing could keep me away from this first round match up, though. They play the early game at Diddle on Thursday night.

The Bowling Green Purples dropped the last game of their regular season to Russellville, 55-50. They played the Panthers in Russellville after playing a make-up game in Albany the previous night. I have a feeling that the Purples relish the opportunity to take on Russellville again. Bowling Green won a couple of very tough games in the 14th District tournament and will be tuned up for more post season play. They have flown under everybody's radar this season like a big B-2 bomber.

I really wish I knew something -- anything -- about Russell County. They are to the Fourth Region what the Maritime Provinces are to Canada, our 51st state. They are way out there on the edge of things, and I have a hunch that deep down they wish they were in another region. I do know that Willie Feldhaus is a good coach and gets a lot out of his players. I mean no disrespect to the Lakers. I remember how well they played in last year's tournament until they hit the Warren Central buzz saw.

The Lakers play the Glasgow Scotties in the first round. The Scotties are led by senior Charlie Mudd, who has a supporting cast of Michael Bradley, Will McCoy, and Michael Whitney. They upended a good Allen County-Scottsville team and came very close to winning the 15th District tournament. Glasgow has played very well after taking a 63-36 thrashing in Franklin on February 22nd.

I saw the Barren County Trojans play three times this season. I saw them play twice in the Citizens First Holiday Classic in Bowling Green and saw them play crosstown rival Glasgow. They won the Holiday Classic trophy by beating a superb team from Hazel Green, Alabama, and that is when they caught my eye. Lee Hubbard is an excellent basketball player, and his teammates move the ball around better than any team I've seen this year. The Trojans play tough defense, too. This is a team that plays like champions.

Metcalfe County has been a hard luck team this season. They rolled early in the season, going 10-0 before losing to a team from Washington, D.C. They seemed to be ready to roll again, but their leading scorer, Trey Shirley, developed an infection in his back. He missed several games, two of which the Hornets lost, but they've haven't been able to put together any kind of momentum since his return. Greenwood clobbered them in Edmonton on Feb. 15th, and they lost to rival Barren County four nights later. Russell County beat them for the 16th District championship.

Who's going to win the tournament? I have no idea. Every time the subject comes up, I think first about the Franklin-Simpson Wildcats. I guess they are kind of my default team. I think D.G. Sherrill is comfortable with his Purples staying off my radar scope.

I do know this: It was 74 degrees yesterday. It's 47 degrees in Bowling Green this morning, and it is supposed to snow by the end of the day. That can only mean it is March, which means it's Hoopsmas -- Kentucky's Mardis Gras.